Tips for American kids moving to UK

[MooritRomney]

My husband is English but our children have been born/raised in the US up until now. I am American but studied in England and so have lived there before. The children have visited the UK but they're currently 7,7, and 4 and the visits were all pre-COVID so they don't remember anything. We're returning (amidst the delta chaos, eek) due to family issues.

The children already have places in school and we have a place to live, so the logistics are pretty well sorted. I am curious to hear if others (especially Americans) have tips/advice for moving with similarly aged children. For one thing they'll be attending a traditional independent school and I imagine the school experience will be ...somewhat shocking for them since they attended a free-spirited forest school program here!

They will adapt. Kids do.

As for Scouting they are the right age for Cubs. The youngest one might be able to start the new group which is starting in some areas called Squirrels.

Girls football is really growing here. At 7 she can either play in a team with boys (They can be mixed till age 16 I think)....but lots of girls like to play with other girls so there are more girls teams now than ever. The UK is hosting the Women's Euro competition next year, with national teams from all over Europe, and tickets have only just gone on sale.

yes, i'm surprised in this day and age, that even in a private school which tend to be more old-fashioned, that football is not available to girls.
can't be how they can justify that, in line with equalities legislation.
all facilities and options should be available to all regardless of sex, or other protected characteristics.
anyway, an exciting time. all the best.
remember to ensure every item of clothing and kit is indelibly labelled.

Our first choice was the local primary school, but one of our children has special educational needs that couldn't be met by the local primary school. This particular independent school can meet all the criteria of their education plan, so we ultimately went for that.

Just a word of warning about this. Independent schools are very good at saying the right thing and making all the right noises about being inclusive and adapting to the child's needs. However once you're in the support doesn't quite match up to what was promised, or in some cases doesn't actually exist at all.

Now that's not to say it won't be a god fit, and there are many who do fulfil those promises. However, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on how things are going, and if the school are actually meeting their needs, or just leaving them to coast along, whilst taking your money.

good not God

The warning about SEN would be justified in some of the state schools I've taught in too. There's just no budget. In my experience the US does better on SEN generally (although obviously it's a huge country so no doubt dependent on area - but books advising parents aimed at an American audience describe provisions we can only dream of here).

My DD has a diagnosis of SEN and her independent school have been excellent, despite the fact they don't trumpet their SEN provision.

No sensible head is going to want to imperil three sets of fees in the current climate.

“ Independent schools are very good at saying the right thing and making all the right noises about being inclusive and adapting to the child's needs. However once you're in the support doesn't quite match up to what was promised, or in some cases doesn't actually exist at all.”

@Whinge @Phineyj I’m actually cautiously optimistic about this. The head of SEN met virtually with my child to get a sense of the level of need, met virtually with the educational psychologist over here who wrote his educational plan, and has offered to begin working with him during summer holidays (as soon as we arrive) to ease the transition into school.

They’ve promised to give him the support he needs and I’ll be watching like a hawk to see that they follow through. If they don’t deliver then they will have essentially lied to my face which … I would not be impressed.

Hi OP, just to say that I've just seen a listing for The Big Book of the UK by Imogen Russell Williams and Louise Lockhart - might be worth getting.